First I will tell you what I'm doing. I downloaded a set of 2 files. I want to convert them from AVI to VCD if possible SVCD. I have an Appex AD 1110 or something like that. It is full support of any VCD or SVCD file. Well I tried out the Tmpenc latest version for a week and finally I got one of the files encoded to VCD. My problem is lot like some of the others. It seems to work fine then a few seconds it freezes like a glitch in a game. Then goes on to play when people talk they speak slow then speed up toward the end of the sentence. Could it be the problem not processing the resolution or it just isn't going to work. Or can I make a different setting of the pixels and the fps or any of the technical quality to make it run smooth like when I play it on a VCD player software or media player. Cause all the others that I've done were the same file type, same quality. And they work fine. Even when the frame would freeze for a few seconds it would still be the same lip sync. Lucky I guess. But that was a while back. Now I had to download a file that wouldn't glitch or freeze to encode it right. So does anyone have a recommendation of how to fix my problem.

The Problem you are experienceing sounds like one of Three things, It sounds Most like you are Experienceing Bitrate Spikes..Tmpgenc is really bad at controlling it"s Bitrate and will Suddenly spike up Much higher than you set it at, and when this happens it looks Like the Video will suddenly slow down then slowly catch up again with the audio, but this should only happen if you are watching it on your DVD Player because any Hard drive should be able to spin fast enough to play a Mpeg file..Another Reason for an effect like this would be Burning your VCD"s at to high of a Speed, you should never burn at higher than 8-12 speed But 4 speed is the best so no errors occur..Regular Data and Music CD"s have Error correction but VCD/SVCD"s Do not, that is why you can fit 800mb on a 700mb CD-R when Burning VCD/SVCD"s, the extra 100mb would usually be used to Correct any errors..and the Last reason why you would not get Smooth Playback would be encodeing to a Framerate different than the AVI file, Meaning if the AVI file has a Framerate of 25fps you have to encode it to a Mpeg file at 25fps, you can not encode a 23.97/24fps File to 25fps and you can"t encode a 25fps file to 29.97fps ect, But I don"t really think this is your Problem......good luck

Hi & thanks to you Minion. But it's not with Tmpgenc, it's with Virtualdub..
But it seems it's the same way for searching a solution in this sens, codecs problem. But one thing I don't understand, when I analyze the avi source film with GSPot it find that i've got the right codec installed. That's all, I would like to apology for my poor english. And sorry for that mistake. Greats from Spain. See you. Bye.

Hi to everybody out there. I'm new in the world of forums and encoding, I post somes but don't have any answer. After this short introduction here come the question. With some avi's "tmpgenc" show me the following message:
-"error initializing audio stream decompression. the requiesed conversion is not possible. check to make sure you have the requiered codec. microsoft audio codec."
I don't see if I have the VFAPI plug-in installed, maybe it's the problem. And if not, I hope some of you can help me. Thanks.

No, It is saying that you do not have the Correct Codec installed so Tmpgenc can not decode the audio from this AVI file...Not Knowing what the audio is compressed to I can not tell you what codec you need, You could try installing some Audio codecs, Or a Codec pack, But the only One that I would sugest you install would be the "Tsunami Codec/Filter Pack" it will also install utilities that will tell you what codecs your Files use so if you have this Problem again you know what codec to install...And to check you "Vfapi Plugins" to go to "Options" to "Enviromental Settings" to "Vfapi Plugins" and If you are usually encodeing Divx AVI files or Downloaded movies then you should have the "Direct show Multi-Media File Raeder" at the Top of the list at about 1 or 2 Priority....good Luck...

Hi !
I am using TMPGenc (latest) to encode AVI files from analog SVHS tapes using Studio DC10PLUS (studio 8) to MPEG for DVD (using TMPGAuth). Of course TMPGenc cannot open the AVI files (neither could the previous versions of TMPGenc full or free). I am now using the frameserver capacity of VirtualDub which works fine.
Can someone tell me the reason why TMPGenc cannot read these AVI files directly ? At least VirtualDub has no problem whatsoever with them.
Thank you.

Option -> Environmental Setting -> VFAPI Plug-In

Set the AVI VfW compatibility Reader to a higher priority. This sould work.

I tried your recommendation. Put AVI VFW right to the top (for good measure). It works. I can open my AVI file. But then, using the wizard, it get stuck while 'Judging field order...' after 9%, disk is busy (file is 50Gb), the only way to abort (the abort button doesn't react) is to kill the task using the task manager.
Then I tried not to use the wizard, selected my template (DVD (PAL), changed the settings (VariableBitRate), and started.
It works. It takes a long time (14 hours for this 50Gb avifile). Quality is not bad. Quite a improvment to using the frameserver which takes 24 hours.
Funny, I had tried this AVI VFW priority setting a few weeks ago, but that did not improve things at all, I still could not access the avifile, may be I thought I did but the setting was perhaps not active.
May be something else has changed on my pc. May be I have installed something (like codec PICVideo v2) without my knowing.
My question really was 'Why can TMPGenc not read the avifile'.
I am glad it works now, but I still would like to know why.
Thank you all the same for your help.

The VFAPI Plugins Give Priority to Certain File types so the Optimal setting can change depending on What type of file you load into it, So if you are used to encodeing one Type of AVI file and everything works fine and then you try an avi file that uses the different codec it might not Accept the File Because the VFAPI Plugins are configured to give Priority to a Different File type..The are a few different Formats that AVI codecs Fall in to, There are "Direct Show" AVI Codecs and there are "Video for Windows" AVI Codecs, and Giveing Priority to one of these Formats means that Tmpgenc will Open files of this Format Much more easily, "Direct show" will also open other formats Like ASF/WMV and Mpeg1..

Many thanks Minion for your insights.

I have produced many DVDs (2 hour + multi camera concerts and shows) using Pinnalcle Studio7, TMPGEnc Plus 2.512 and Ulead DVD Workshop 1.3.

I get a problem that I thought I had solved three projects ago (by carefully re-creating the TMPGEnc settings for the latest version) but has re-occurred in my latest project and I haven’t found a solution yet.

The problem is that DVD files (VOB etc) play smoothly in DVD players and using WinDVD4 but with PowerDVD (from hard drive or DVD, on two different computers, using V3 or V4 with XP patch) I get pauses (actually I think they are rush-aheads) then catchups (pause can be 3 seconds long) in the video (not audio) at seemingly random positions (but the same positions every time).

The MPEG file plays fine.

If I author the same MPEG with TMPGAutor the resulting VOB files play fine (the are slightly different size).

If I read the VOB files created by DVDWorkshop back into TMPGauthor as a source and create a new DVD project the result also plays fine.

I have tried many different combinations of TMPGenc settings (video only / video & audio, encoding qualities, bitrate ranges, GOP structures, GOP open / closed, Scene detection on/off) and while I do see differences in the problem (more or less pausing at different places) nothing has cured it.

I did try a short test with Dazzle DVD Complete but it gave exactly the same result as DVD Workshop.

Does anyone have any suggestions other than use TMPGauthor – which I will use for this project but I don’t want to lose the menu flexibility and functionality of DVD Workshop for which I paid a significant amount.

I will feed this back to Ulead but experience suggests I’ll be lucky to get a response.

Thanks

These Rush aheads and Catchups you call them are exactly what happens when the DVD Drive for one reason or another can not spin the DVD Fast enough to read the data at the Proper speed...This can happen from Bitrate Spikes, when the Bitrate suddenly spikes FAR higher than you set it which is Very common with Files encoded By Tmpgenc, which is one of the reasons why I do not use it Very Often For mpeg2 encodeing(and My other encoder is Faster and Better Quality than Tmpgenc)..But this Does not explain Your Problem, But it also May not be a Tmpgenc Problem Because you say the Mpeg files Play fine and that the authored DVD"s Play fine in other Software DVD Players, To me it sounds Like it is either Power DVD or Ulead DVD Workshop, I also use DVD Workshop 1.3 sometimes(Along with 20 or so other Authoring Programs) and Like it a Lot But I was haveing Problem with Burning with DVD Workshop, so I would Use it to author the DVD to a Image file or a Video-TS folder ,then Use something like "Nero" to burn the Image to DVD, this solved the Problem...I don"t know it this is Much help but then again I do not think it is a Tmpgenc problem...Good Luck...Cheers

Minion - Thanks for the reply

I am pursuing this issue with both Ulead and PowerDVD but I suspect any resolution from these will be a long time coming.

I have downloaded the free version of BitrateView and analysed the VOB files produced (from the same MPEG) by DVDWorkshop and TMPGAuthor.

I don't understand what the analysis means but there is a significant difference. The bitrate traces are fairly similar and I don't see any spikes but the quantisation scale level varies very much more in the Ulead VOB. Whether this means anything I don't know.

Would you be prepared to say what is your preferred encoder so I can try that.

Well I personally use CCE SP 2.67, but it is a harder Encoder to use than Tmpgenc cuz you usually have to Use a Frameserver with it, Plus you will Probably have to find a Hacked version cuz the encoder costs $2000 US to Buy..

Thanks but it sounds out of my league.

I think I will invest in TMPGAuthor and live with the inferior menus unless/until Ulead come up with an answer

Now I have learned to use Bitrateview better I discover I was fooling myself and the two VOB files do display identical bitrate and quantisation traces.

There must be some difference though as the file sizes are different and they play differently (the original cause of the investigation)

I have just head that there is a new version of PowerDVD (V5) on the horizon - maybe this will help.
_________________
john carr

Help! what does this mean and is there anything i can do?

This means that there is a Corrupted Frame(s) in your Source file..This seems semi-Common with DivX and Xvid Files downloaded off the net..You can try to fix it By useing Virtual Dub to scan it for errors then Make a "Direct Stream Copy" of the file which should mask the bad frames, then use the Copy as the video source, OR you can encode up to were you get the error, then use to the "Source Range" to start encodeing a New file a Couple frames after were the error occured, then Join the 2 files into one file with the "Merge & cut" in the "Mpeg Tools"....

I am using the 2.5 download version, after the 30 day period I am unable to join mpg files. only the video stream is merged and no there is no audio in the merged file .

This is Probably just a Bug of some sort with Tmpgenc and certain files.. When the Mpeg Tools start not working right there are No Magic setting to make it suddenly work Properly, What you will have to Do is use a different Mpeg editor, There are some Freeware Mpeg2 editors like Mpeg2Cut and Chopper XP but I don"t know if they Join I don"t know of any Freeware Mpeg1 editors/Joiners, But I do have a Mpeg1 editor that Cuts and Merges, if you want a Copy of it send me an e-Mail if you can"t find a Mpeg2 editor and you need one I might be able to find one of those for you also....cheers

I am using the latest version of TMPGEnc (2.512.52.161-free) and I am trying to cut out a 13 min. part from a 60 min. mpg file. Every time the prog finishes processing at about 7 min. The clip is cut out, but it is only 7 min. long. Is there a limit on the free version or am I doing something wrong? Please help.

Your Probably Not doing anything wrong, The editor in Tmpgenc"s Mpeg tools is very Picky with the files it will edit, it is only officially supposed to be for Files that were encoded By Tmpgenc and even then sometimes it don"t work right, Try a different Mpeg editor if you can"t get Tmpgenc"s to work, There are some freeware ones But the Only ones I can think of Right now are Mpeg2 editors not mpeg1 , one is Mpeg2Cut and another is Chopper XP, im sure you can find one if you look on a Search engine...

thanks for the help

thanks for the respond, but I forgot to say that I use 'easy vcd' and it must set its own settings, do you know how to make the settings in easy vcd that would set the settings in tmpge.

No Not really, But I don"t see the Big deal in doing a coule settings that takes 30 seconds, You allready have Easy VCD doing everything else for you ..I guess you"ll have to live with it...

how to have tmpge start with the same settings each time. What I don't want is the letter box (bars at top and bottom). Each time I would go to arrange settings and chose no margin.

this is an attachment to my question.
all movies r ntsc 16.9

thanks

Well save your Settings as a Template, then when you load in a File you just have to load the correct template and all the setting will be set the way you set them in the template, To do this is easy ,First load in a File go and do all of your Settings like you were going to encode and when they are set the way you like them click the "Save" button in the Bottom Right corner and give the template a Name and save it in the "Templates Folder", then next time you just have to load in your file then clicl the "Load" button and find your Template and choose it and your setting will be set...

I'm new to this. I'm trying to use TMPGENC to
archive shows from my ReplayTV PVR to VCD or SVCD.

I run the mpg from the replay thru DVD2AVI, and then
use TMPGENC to make a compliant MPEG file. However,
in this second file, the sound seems to be out of
sync by about 1 second - its later than the video.

Any suggestions?

thanks

Cryptoguy

What heppens with those PVR Mpeg capture boxes Like replay TV is that when they drop frames while recording they Make up for the dropped Frame by adding Padding which is basicly empty Data to make up for the lost frame, But some Programs do not see these dropped Frames like DVD2AVI and Tmpgenc so when encodeing them Video becomes a Little shorter because it has less frames causeing it to go out of sync with the Audio, To see if this is the Problem, Demux the Original Mpeg file and compare the length of the audio to the length of the "Encoded" Video file and see if they are different, The differance should be about the amount they are out of sync, if this is the Problem you would have to Use an Audio editor like Sound Forge or Cool Edit to shrink the audio so it is the Same Length as the Video, but if this is not the Problem then it could just be a Matter of off-setting the audio or Video so that they match up, You can do this with a Multiplexor that has the Audio off set option, The Muxer in BBMpeg has an option like this but it is a Little tricky to use, The one in "Mpeg2Vcr" is really good and easy to use for this and it is one of the best Mpeg editors But it is not Freeware, well good luck..

I have an mpeg2 that was made from a "video capture" card. It plays perfectly with evey player I have tried. I used TMPGenc to translate it to an MPEG-1 format. The sound starts in sync and, after 45 minutes, is off by about 20 seconds. So I 'de-multiplexed', stretched the resulting .WAV file, and 'multiplexed' them together again. Now the sound is IN-SYNC at the beginning of the movie and is IN-SYNC at the end of the movie but is OUT-OF-SYNC in the middle of the movie! There is not much I can do about that.

My conclusion.....The frame rate varied during the capture and encoding to MPEG-2 format. The synchronization clocks in the MPEG-2 file cause it to be played perfectly in spite of this. But TMPGenc appears to ignore these clocks. I conjecture that TMPGenc is making the assumption that the frames are all equally spaced and that the audio is being sampled at exactly the correct frequency. This might be true for MPEG-2 files created from DVDs (perfect timing, nothing missing, and nothing added) but it is certainly not true for anything that has survived the rigors of being put onto and removed from a VHS tape.

By the way, I have some tapes that worked VERY well with TMPGenc. Others vary from decent to terrible. They all play **perfectly** with MPEG-2 players.

Hi. I must say that right now I'M IN HEAVEN, DELIGHTED... it's almost a sexual pleasure (almost) to have solved at last this problem of frozen MPEG-2 video streams. BTW, thanks to Minion & ASHY... but more about acknowledgements, later. Now, to the point:

THE PROBLEM (SYMPTOMS):

- You load a MPEG-2 video stream in order to re-encode it & you go to "Source range"... just to find that TMPGEnc can't detect its duration!! (perhaps displaying some strange value, like 5237605132 frames = 58195 hours).

- And / or: you encode the video stream (transcoding MPEG-2 for DVD backups, for example), and everything seems fine... till the encoding freezes at some particular frame, repeating that frame till the end of the film, or during some minutes!! (a "playback Pause" effect).

- And / or: you encode the video stream (transcoding MPEG-2 for DVD backups, for example)... but only the first frame!! (1 film into 1 frame: THAT'S compression, guys).

- ...or perhaps you didn't look at the entire encoding process (quite logical, losing 5-24 hours watching the PC screen isn't really enjoyable), but you playback the resulting MPEG-2 file... and it's completely useless: the video is "frozen", "hung-up", and no matter how many times you try: it happens always at the same(s) point(s) -yeah, sometimes more than once in the same file-.

THE SOLUTION:

- Before you go to TMPGEnc, load the original MPEG-2 file (.M2V / .VOB file) into DVD2AVI, and create a .D2V project file (File->Save Project). It's a quick process, don't worry!! After that, you can close DVD2AVI.

- Oh, you can get DVD2AVI almost everywhere... for example, try at http://www.doom9.org/

- At TMPGEnc, load that project file (that .D2V file), INSTEAD of the original .M2V/.VOB file (which, nevertheless, you still need: don't delete it yet!!)... And that's all!! Now, the stream duration detected will be 100% accurate, and the encoding won't stop anywhere!!

- If you still are experimenting these problems, try to do some real "frameserving", perhaps using VirtualDub & AuxSetup ( http://www.doom9.org/capture/frameserving.html )

- BTW, DVD2AVI is really useful for other tasks; the simplest one, its "preview" option (F5), to find the stream info (aspect ratio, frame rate & type -interlaced/progressive-...).

THE STORY & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Since my first encodings with TMPGEnc, I found that problem with some MPEG-2 files. I tried EVERYTHING, and the only "solution" was to encode "in fragments": from frame 0 to the ****ing bad frame, from the ****ing bad frame to the next one (hopely, the end one)... A REAL NIGHTMARE. I planned to buy TMPGEnc, but I had to begin to use another encoders, 'cause the problem appeared really often.

...But the other day, almost desperate (I DO prefer TMPGEnc over other encoders, it's really powerful & USER FRIENDLY), I found the solution here:
http://bbs.pegasys-inc.com/bbscgi/search/docs/en/tmpgenc/box59/tmpgenc_post_22608.html
THANKS A LOT to Minion, one of that kind persons that illustrate us, stupid newbies. The other forum guy I appreciate most is ASHY, THE REAL LIVING MASTER OF ENCODING... but he's too much lucky, he does almost everything without any problem, so sometimes it's difficult for him to reproduce our strange problems ;-p

Well, I suppose that this serious problem (which other encoders don't have) gets fixed really easily this way, putting again TMPGEnc as my favorite MPEG/MPEG-2 encoder (have I told you already how powerful & USER FRIENDLY it is??). I've posted this because it's an EASY solution, but NOT so easy to imagine or find at the forum.

I hope this really LONG post has help you a bit. If not, sorry for being SO tedious.

I have allways said that DVD2AVI is the Best way to encode a Mpeg2 file with Tmpgenc, it seems to be a superior Decoder and it is really fast, I encode every Mpeg2 file I capture with My Capture card useing DVD2AVI, it is an awesome frameserveing tool...well Im glad your Problem is solved...Cheers

I agree DVD2AVI is one of the best MPEG2 decoders there is and is also probably one of the fastest. Without it I wouldn't be able to create high quality DVD rips to XSVCD.
Anyway thanks for the support. Good to be appreciated now and then.

When I convert an AVI to MPG and then use VCDEasy to make a VCD there is a constant beeping in the background, any clues as to what is causing it?

Well I have never heard of this before, Why not try encodeing the audio to Mpeg audio with a Totally seperate audio encoder then Mux the audio back woth the Video then burn it and see if the beeping has stopped, That way you will find out if it is a Tmpgenc Problem or Something else..You can Extract the audio from the AVI with Virtual Dub then you can encode the audio to Mpeg1 Layer 2 audio with a audio encoder like DB Power Amp or Headac3he which are both freeware, then use the "Simple Multiplex in the Mpeg tools to Join the Audio and Video together.......

Are these beeping noises like high pitched pops of sound. This is caused by using either cheaper quality disks or in some cases Rewritables and by burning the disk to fast. Usually these beeps are also accompanied with noise on the screen such as blocks.
Burn the disk at a lower speed 4x is best.